Three IAS aspirants were killed after the basement of a popular coaching institute in Delhi got flooded last evening. The students were in the basement – being used as a library in violation of norms – when a strong force of water entered it.
Even as the police are probing how so much water could reach the basement Rau's IAS Study Circle in West Delhi's Rajendra Nagar, a video has emerged that shows an SUV passing through the water accumulated outside the institute, splashing it on its gate. The next frame shows the gate coming down seemingly due to the strong flow of water that can be seen entering the institute.
The video also exposes the sorry state of affairs in the popular UPSC coaching hub in the national capital as people can be seen wading through knee-deep water. A motorbike, half-submerged in the muddy water, can also be seen.
The basement was eight feet below the ground level and several students were present in it on Saturday evening when it got flooded. All but Tania Soni, Shreya Yadav – both 25 – and Navin Delvin (28) managed to get out in time.
The three bodies were recovered past midnight after a seven-hour rescue operation.
Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg said that there was no option to de-water the basement.
The three-storey coaching centre had its building plan approved by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) department in 2021 by falsely showing that it was being used as a store room, as per the building plan and the No Objection Certificate (NOC) of the fire department.
"The building has fire NOC, but in the NOC they had shown the basement as a store room. The management of the institute was using the same room as a classroom or library which is a violation of the NOC," Mr Garg said.
Locals say that there are several other coaching institutions in the area which operate from the basement.
Delhi mayor Shelly Oberoi has issued directions to take strict action coaching institutes found flouting the building bye-laws and ascertain if any MCD officer is responsible for the incident.
The owner – Abhishek Gupta – and the coordinator – Deshpal Singh – of the coaching centre were arrested today even as protests erupted in the area over the incident.